Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 I began writing my book in 1992, when I walked into the Camp Nou as a twenty-two-year-old. I had never known Barcelona was such a beautiful city. I played bad chess in the sun at Kasparo bar, and decided I wanted to return here one day.

#2 I had always wanted to understand how Messi performed the tricks he did on the field. I began researching Barça, thinking I was going to explain the club's rise to greatness, but I ended up documenting the club's decline.

#3 I had visited Barcelona many times as a journalist, and in 2007, I won FC Barcelona's annual sportswriting prize. The club insisted I come to the awards ceremony and lunch afterward. I realized that Barça regarded me as an alumnus.

#4 I wanted to understand Cruyff and Messi as people, not as demigods. I wanted to study Barça not as a theater of dreams but as a workplace. I used to worry that football was a lower subject than politics, but I no longer do.